Hi all...just wanted to share a link to my first featured article. I hope you all find it amusing and informative, and a very special thanks to our very own Caverat for all his input and having to listen to my kids deconstruct my home! Thanks, Jim!

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to investigation." Herbert Spencer

Interests:I love to do yard work, re-arrange my home constantly, draw and get tattoos that have significant meaning to me, garage sales/yard sales fanatic. My home is haunted by I believe 2 spirits, so I'm never alone when everyone is asleep! I'm trying to label the gifts I have, although I try to keep them a secret from my husband..he wouldn't understand. My 20 year old is now living on his own and does so great! My 6 year old is a little me, and the baby will be 5 December. He's about 8-12 months behind, but that smile...that beautiful smile.

Posted 04 December 2009 - 12:21 AM

Now that was a very great article & I hope others read it and give some more ideas. I personally like the pencil & paper method. Very cheap and dor the most part, reliable. No batteries needed!!

~Women are angels...and when someone breaks our wings, we simply continue to fly...on a broomstick. We're flexible like that.~

Figure in all the stuff that has no proven basis in paranormal research into the equation like the Talking Boxes, Ovilus, Puck, and other junk out there and you can see where the new guy and his money can get parted in quite a hurry (it is good to note Santa won’t be bringing any Pucks this year as they are discontinued on the Digital Dowsing website).

Very good article with excellent advice, as I feel all of the "me too" ghost hunting shows have done a great deal of damage to those that have been in the field for a very long time. However, I do have to disagree with the statement above, as there is also no "proven basis" for EMF meters and digital recorders in paranormal research. I now own a Zoom H2 and H4n, and agree that the higher sampling rates these units are capable of make a world of difference, and greatly reduce the possibily that digital atifacts, sampling errors, etc. are causing false positives. Having said that, there is no proven basis for EVP's, what cause them, or (if they are created my sprits) how they are imprinted on the recording device. There are plenty of theories, but that's about it. The same can be said of EMF meters, including the Trifield.

Again, it's an excellent article. Use cheap equipment, and you will find ghosts everywhere. You get what you pay for.

Good article Dave.
I think that these days too many folks are getting the gear fever because they feel that having the gear somehow makes them appear to be a better researcher.
Too many folks are too quick to compare serious ghost hunters with what they see on tv. "How good can this guy be? He doesn't even use an EMF meter, all the ghost shows use them."
People have to forget the cool factor. Yes, having alot of technical gadgets can be cool, but don't come to me asking for a flashlight because you bought an expensive DVR and a 2 dollar flashlight.
Do what you want, how you want. Don't feel that you have to keep up with the Joneses. Gear is no subsitute for experience.

Interests:Serious Research and separating the truth from the hype in the paranormal field today.

Posted 04 December 2009 - 08:51 PM

Figure in all the stuff that has no proven basis in paranormal research into the equation like the Talking Boxes, Ovilus, Puck, and other junk out there and you can see where the new guy and his money can get parted in quite a hurry (it is good to note Santa won’t be bringing any Pucks this year as they are discontinued on the Digital Dowsing website).

Very good article with excellent advice, as I feel all of the "me too" ghost hunting shows have done a great deal of damage to those that have been in the field for a very long time. However, I do have to disagree with the statement above, as there is also no "proven basis" for EMF meters and digital recorders in paranormal research. I now own a Zoom H2 and H4n, and agree that the higher sampling rates these units are capable of make a world of difference, and greatly reduce the possibily that digital atifacts, sampling errors, etc. are causing false positives. Having said that, there is no proven basis for EVP's, what cause them, or (if they are created my sprits) how they are imprinted on the recording device. There are plenty of theories, but that's about it. The same can be said of EMF meters, including the Trifield.

Again, it's an excellent article. Use cheap equipment, and you will find ghosts everywhere. You get what you pay for.

There are recordings caught using quality equipment. Of course I won't say it's spirits, fact is we don't know precisely what it is. But for anyone wishing to study that aspect of the paranormal the point is that we do want to rule out the false positives which are a result of equipment.

As for EMF meters, same thing. They do not detect ghosts or even paranormal. Burt they do detect manmade sources of EM fields which might cause false positives. That is a proven fact. So if one is doing ghost or any other research where these fields could be a problem then it is good science to identify them and if possible eliminate or minimize them. That is the reason for the meter. True there is no proof any paranormal activity causes EMF fluctuations. But EMF fluctuations can certainly cause other equipment to react to them and as such need identified.

This article has easily become one of my favorites added to WF? in awhile. I think that a piece like that one, a rundown on the why's and why not's of "ghost hunting" equipment, was long overdue. Great job, Dave (and Jim!).

Thanks, guys. Please knwo I don;t knock anyone or their methods and equipment...for God sakes, have fun with it all if it makes you happy. I wrote this more for the serious researcher and how mainstream media can influence it. I respect EVERYONE'S opinions.

Makes me glad you liked it, and I appreciate the criticism...happy holidays!

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to investigation." Herbert Spencer

Interests:Science, history, museums, and the technical aspects of investigating the paranormal.

Posted 22 February 2010 - 10:33 AM

Thanks, guys. Please knwo I don;t knock anyone or their methods and equipment...for God sakes, have fun with it all if it makes you happy. I wrote this more for the serious researcher and how mainstream media can influence it. I respect EVERYONE'S opinions.

Makes me glad you liked it, and I appreciate the criticism...happy holidays!

Great article Dave, but I do have a few issues with your logic. The one piece of equipment you can't buy is a scientific brain, and sadly, some have a little more than others. I wholeheartedly agree that many people forget that documentation is a key to any form of research in the scientific method, thus the need for pencil/pen and paper. I try to document EVERYTHING (temperature, humidity, geological activity, baseline emf, etc...) that occurs during an investigation, even going so far as to draw maps on graph paper (which helps with equipment setup or areas of activity on following investigations. This is where my opinions differ from many other scientists following "traditional" methods.

There are known "laws" which are being broken all the time. I present Ernst Abbe's Theories as an example. Abbe's law dictates a maximum amount of magnification for microscopes and other optic devices; however, researchers (such as Royal R. Rife) took the law and dissected it to find a loophole that produced an optical microscope with 50,000x magnification and 30,000x resolution back in 1927. His research and name were lost and sabotaged, until recently. In 2008 the Ergonom microscope was made, using the very principles Rife had laid out back in 1927. That microscope works, and in doing so breaks the "laws" of physics.

Paranormal research is no different. If someone places a "Frank's Box" in a Faraday cage, and still receives answers from beyond, I would seriously have to conclude that evidence is highly credible. The basis of the scientific method is composing a theory, then conducting experiments to test that theory. So the theory stands that perhaps spirits are able to manipulate a "Frank's Box". What we need are better experiments to determine if the theory has any merit. Since paranormal entities are able to walk through walls, shouldn't they be able to poke their face into a Faraday cage to talk into a radio?

Calling someones theories bunk is rather rude. If people had called Louis Pasteur's theories about spontaneous generation bunk (he was playing with dead meat after all), we wouldn't have pasteurized milk. We, as a paranormal community, need to band together to prove/disprove these theories, much like the medical profession is attempting to do with out of body experiences and near-death experiences. Your scientific knowledge is a vast help to the community. Please continue sharing knowledge with the less educated.

"Paranormal research is no different. If someone places a "Frank's Box" in a Faraday cage, and still receives answers from beyond, I would seriously have to conclude that evidence is highly credible. The basis of the scientific method is composing a theory, then conducting experiments to test that theory. So the theory stands that perhaps spirits are able to manipulate a "Frank's Box". What we need are better experiments to determine if the theory has any merit. Since paranormal entities are able to walk through walls, shouldn't they be able to poke their face into a Faraday cage to talk into a radio?"

I disagree on many points,

The "properly" designed Fararaday Cage will stop EMF's, this is well understood documented Physics.

If genuine evidence was gathered, inside the cage, evidence would not be "credible", it would Nobel Prize worthy!

From an Classical Physics perspective, EMF not passing through a Faraday Cage is very different than EMF easily passing through a wall.

I'm not trying to argue, just state solid science. If you have a model or evidence to get around this I'd love to see or hear it.

I prefer to base my models on Science. Speculation is good, but speculation built on a solid foundation is better.

Interests:Science, history, museums, and the technical aspects of investigating the paranormal.

Posted 22 February 2010 - 01:39 PM

I disagree on many points,

The "properly" designed Fararaday Cage will stop EMF's, this is well understood documented Physics.

If genuine evidence was gathered, inside the cage, evidence would not be "credible", it would Nobel Prize worthy!

From an Classical Physics perspective, EMF not passing through a Faraday Cage is very different than EMF easily passing through a wall.

I'm not trying to argue, just state solid science. If you have a model or evidence to get around this I'd love to see or hear it.

I prefer to base my models on Science. Speculation is good, but speculation built on a solid foundation is better.

LOL, we're arguing that we agree.

I too, prefer to base my methods on known principles of science, thusly the reason for my suggestion. I am going to design such a cage capable of holding my Frank's box and my voice recorder and see if something more meaningful than snippets of AM radio comes through. If it does, we both agree that it would be Nobel prize worthy.

My model is very simple, entities have been known (by me specifically, as I watched a shadow walk through a 1/4 inch steel door) to pass through metal walls (such as ship bulkheads, etc...) which should/could stop emf fields. If this is true then it is reasonable to suppose they might be able to move through a Faraday cage as well. This experiment would lend proof to that theory, and as far as I can tell, have valid scientific credibility. The one problem paranormal researchers face though, is not having controlled laboratories to run these experiments in. Additionally, if ghosts are the spirits of deceased human beings, then repeatability is definitely an issue.